OMG! TTD decision to scrap tourism quota stings devotees

Hyderabad: The decision of the newly constituted board of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) to scrap the darshan facility through the Tourism Corporations has dampened the spirits of the devotees in Telangana who regularly utilise these services with short-term planning and hassle-free visit to the temple town.

The ‘Sheegra Darshan’ facility in the form of a customised package from the Telangana Tourism Development Corporation was a hit as people in large numbers used this service through Airways and Bus services for having darshan of Lord Sri Venkateshwara Swamy. This was tailor made for the devotees as they can wrap up the journey within a day or two. The passengers could start their journey after 6 am and return by night after having darshan.

However, the new Board of the TTD has taken a decision to scrap this service based on the vigilance report, which has pointed out irregularities. Along with the Telangana Tourism, the tourism departments of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were offering this service. A businessman from the city G Suraj, who used this service often, said that this was an easy method for many devotees like him.

“The TTD removed Sudarshan token from the Kalyana Mandapam, Himayatnagar and started releasing online quotas.

The tickets under the online quota get exhausted within a few minutes as this is accessed worldwide. With lack of technical knowledge, many could not get this done hence we used the tourism service. The only thing one needs to note is that the tickets should be booked one week before the darshan day,” said Suraj.

K Adarsh, a techie, said that the TTD board should rethink this decision or start the Sudarshan Token system at Himayatnagar so that the darshan slots can be booked offline.

“The TTD personnel are not honouring the recommendation letters from the public representatives of Telangana. They are just saying we can only provide room and during the weekend they outrightly deny taking the letters.

In these circumstances, it will be a big task for taking the family to the temple town without knowing whether we will get darshan or not hence we want the TTD to reconsider their decision,” said Adarsh.

The devotees said that they had expected the new government would facilitate the old systems like Sudarshan Token but expressed disappointment that the existing facility, which was helpful for them, was also removed. “The authorities should take action if there are irregularities but should not take away a programme which is benefiting the devotees,” said R Satish, an advocate from the city.